The advent of computer networks has dramatically improved the way many people work, study, and recreate in today's society. This improvement is particularly evident in the ability of computer networks to make shared resources available to constituent workstations. Sharing resources generally reduces costs and provides more efficient overall usage of those resources.
One particular shared resource used extensively in computer networks is that of network printers. Network printers allow many different users connected to a computer network to print documents from personal workspaces without requiring each user to maintain his or her own separate printer. However, shared printers may present some security concerns. For example, when documents of varying security levels are sent to the same printer, a person without clearance or permission to view a high-security document may mistakenly or maliciously retrieve or attempt to view the document.
Many prior solutions to network printing security generally aim to ensure that documents transmitted from a workstation to a remote printer are secure and do not reside on the output tray of a printer before the user arrives to retrieve that document. Additional security concerns may include those of ensuring that users have permission to print confidential documents and avoiding confidential documents being printed where they may be accessed by people without permission to view the contents.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.